"Hey, Gil, c'mere." Alfred motioned Gilbert toward him. "Gimme your hand."
"Uh, okay." Gilbert extended the requested appendage.
Alfred made a sort of humming noise in the back of his throat. "This is so weird. I've never seen anything like it before."
"Like what?" Matthew crouched next to his twin.
"The lines on his palm, they don't make any sense. They're just, well, lines. Like anyone else might see. Just lines, with no meaning, no purpose." Alfred gestured his hand over Gilbert's.
"But you'll still be able to do the match, right?" Matthew bit his lip.
"Yeah, of course. It'll be easy." Alfred waved the question away dismissively. "I wonder if I'll be able to read it after we've brought him back."
"Yeah, I have no idea. Are you gonna sit there holding my hand just 'cause you can, or is there a reason?" Gilbert tapped his foot, annoyed at being ignored.
"Right, right. Gotta do the match." Alfred turned the hand of the clay avatar palm-up and pulled a small oak box from one of the pockets on his bomber jacket. He carefully popped the clasp with his thumb-nail. The lid opened silently. Inside was the thin tip of a willow branch, which Alfred slowly, reverently removed. "This should be perfect."
"If you say so…what is it?" Gilbert warily eyed the small device.
"It's what I'm going to use to draw the lines onto the clay. It's already got a lot of my power in it, 'cause I carry it around everywhere. Hold your hand still; if I screw this up you'll bind improperly." Alfred changed the angles of both Gilbert's hand and the doll's until they lined up. Taking the piece of willow, he painstakingly began tracing faint lines onto the palm of the shell. They matched up perfectly with the lines on Gilbert's hands. "Okay…I think I'm done with this one. Sit on the other side."
Gilbert complied silently, watching Matthew as he hurried toward Bhaltair.
"Uncle Walter, how long will it take you to set up the barrier?"
Bhaltair looked up from the rune he was scratching into the dirt. "I don't know. Another half hour, maybe? Why?"
"No reason, really. I'm just…just getting a bad feeling. I think Nikolai's going to try to interfere." Matthew frowned at his neighbor's house.
"No. I would actually like…to assist, if possible." Nikolai spoke softly, voice nearly carried away by the wind.
Arthur jumped. He hadn't heard Nikolai approach, nor had the others. "Why?" The question was sharp.
"It pains me to see the string severed prematurely." Nikolai murmured.
"String…?" Matthew frowned at Nikolai.
'The secrets of the heart, hidden from most, are quite visible to me.' Nikolai's words, spoken a seeming eternity ago, whispered in Arthur's ear. 'I cannot predict the future, but I am privy to the most likely path of…of the red string of fate…'
"I understand. What can you do without a Spirit Animal?" Arthur didn't really want to be rude, but he was honestly curious.
A slight smile flashed across Nikolai's face, gone almost before it could be identified. "I see you've been speaking with Gilbert. I am," he paused, as if hesitant to share what he was about to say, "I am one of the High Born."
Bhaltair sucked in a sharp breath. "A-a High Born? I thought they were just legends, myths!"
"Apparently not." Ceilí muttered. "Are you really? Or do you just think it's funny to play pretend?"
"I promise you that I am not lying. If you like, I could perhaps come up with proof." There was a soft almost-challenge in Nikolai's tone.
"I'd like to see that." Alfred sneered, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Matthew.
"What are you all talking about?" Gilbert demanded.
Matthew wrung his hands as he spoke. "The High Born are said to be the first humans with supernatural abilities. All current practitioners are supposedly descended from them. But I've always thought that it was just a fairytale to tell your kids."
"You say you're a High Born. I say prove it." Alfred jerked his chin up, a sharp, alpha-male gesture.
"If…if I must." Nikolai took deep breath, exhaled slowly. "Do any of you remember the legends you spoke of before? The ones that tell of us, and the fact that of all humans, only we were able to control the earth?" He knelt slowly and placed his hand on the warm topsoil.
The dust and dirt began to rise, first merely hovering Nikolai's hand, and then gradually taking shape. It appeared to be taking the form of a human figure with unruly hair. He glanced at it, and a blush flashed across his cheeks. The shape rapidly changed, turning from a man to a troll in a matter of seconds, no detail spared. Even the creases around the lopsided mouth were present.
Alfred whistled softly. "Damn. That sure woulda been handy when we were making this." He tapped the clay effigy with his foot.
"Not really. It would have had too much of my essence in it, and rejected Gilbert's soul." The earthen troll crumbled around Nikolai's feet. "Do you believe me?"
"I, yeah, I believe you. After that, how could I not?" Alfred laughed shakily.
"I'm still confused." Gilbert grumbled. "Couldn't one of you guys done that?"
"Have you ever heard of the five element theory? It's an Eastern thing, so you might not have." Bhaltair knelt to continue tracing runes as he spoke.
"Uh, vaguely. One of my friends' brothers was into feng shui." Gilbert thought of Kiku, and his pony-tailed stepbrother.
"Well, okay. The five elements are metal, water, wood, fire, and earth. Everyone, even non-practitioners, has one element that they're most attuned to. Only the High Born are ever able to control earth." Bhaltair explained absently. "You're element is…" He looked Gilbert up and down critically.
"Wood." Matthew chimed in. "His element is wood. The same as Dad."
Arthur looked Gilbert over. "That sounds about right," he said with a smile.
Nikolai cleared his throat. "It will be dark soon. We should try to finish the barrier and effigy today, but tomorrow night will be ideal for casting the circle and the summoning."
Ceilí frowned at the sky. "Yeah. You're right. We should finish up here, and settle in for the night."
,,
Arthur frowned, remembering the shape Nikolai's earthen statue had first begun to take. I wonder…who it was becoming… Deciding that the only way to find out would be to ask, Arthur trekked across Matthew's house in an attempt to find Nikolai.
He eventually came across him, curled up in an armchair, fast asleep.
He looks like a child.
"Can, can I help you?" Nikolai sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Sleep had thickened his accent, and Arthur now recognized it as Norwegian.
"I didn't mean to wake you…but since you're already up, who was that clay figure going to be, before you made it a troll?"
Nikolai jumped at the bluntness of the question. "It takes the shape of whatever is foremost in my mind. I was…distracted. I was wondering if we were being watched. That's all." A faint blush was rising over his cheeks.
"That was a pretty specific shape. Was there someone in particular on your mind?" Arthur pressed.
"I…yes. There was. You are sharp." Nikolai smiled slightly.
"I have two sons who, not all that long ago, were teenagers. I've gotten fairly good at noticing when there's something someone isn't telling me." Arthur laughed quietly.
"I suppose that would help." The two sat in companionable silence for a moment.
"So, who was it?" Arthur broke the quiet with his question.
Nikolai, who had returned to his normal color, flushed again. "He is a friend. That is all."
"I'm sure." Nikolai didn't miss Arthur's dry tone. Arthur didn't miss the deepening shade of Nikolai's face.
..
Wow, I can't believe it took so long to write this. Let's see, it's never been brought up, but I see no reason not to tell you: Gilbert is a carpenter. That's why his element is wood. Or rather, he's a carpenter because of his element. Does that make sense? It does to me.
Eee! I went to a dance the other day, and the girl I've been crushing on for a while asked me to with her! I had a lot of fun…we danced together! Eee! I'm so happy! [{Equilibrium out!}]